Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour of Flanders - Women - Race Overview

Former Ronde van Vlaanderen winner Annemiek Van Vleuten had a strong performance today to finish in seventh place of the iconic WorldTour race.

The Dutch rider gave it her everything in the final kilometres to try and bring back two escapees. It came down to the final metres of the race when Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) held on to take close victory ahead of her breakaway companion Emma Johansson (Wiggle-High5).

After the race Van Vleuten explained how she rode to her maximum today to try and give herself a chance to sprint for the victory.

"The race started a bit late, it was at the Kanarieberg when the action really began," said Van Vleuten. "At that point there was a hard attack and I expected that. Gracie Elvin and I were both there and working well together."